The Europeans explorers who discovered the - Chris Heaton...

Chris Heaton Dr. Zia Meranto Native American Politics 10/20/2008 America the Beautiful The Europeans explorers who discovered the “new” world also observed a type of people, different from any they had ever seen before. These people would later become known to European’s as American Indians. The relationship between the early European colonizers and the Indians would dominate much of the early American history and policy making. As the United States gained power and support, it was able to exploit the Indians, for the benefit of their new country. Economic development was of greatest importance to The United States growth in early American history. With two completely different world views and beliefs, coexistence between these two parties was difficult to say the least. Problems intensified as the United States continued to take more drastic measures insuring economic development of the new country. Economic development was and still is one of the main goals of the United States government. Early Relationships The first relationships between the whites and the Indians were among the most peaceful of anytime to come. They treated each other as equals, each party had something of interest to each other, and this encouraged a healthy trade. The white settlers had a strong demand for fur products, and Indians so happened to be very skilled in trapping. Indian’s begun to trade their services to the settlers for European goods, such as guns and metal. The policies of this time were made up of treaties, mostly between trappers and Indians. The treaties were largely based on

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equality and the terms of the treaties were agreed upon by two separate and sovereign nations. Much of the economic growth at this time came from the fur trade. As trading posts got set up so did towns and an expansion into new unexplored land. Even Thomas Jefferson saw potential economic gain from the Indians, as he told Lewis and Clark to seek “a commercial intercourse with the Indians” (Cornell pg 19) on their journey west. The fur trade was essential to the new colonies in America at this time. William Penn, who helped create a colony in Pennsylvania “counted heavily on the trade with Indians,” (Cornell pg18) to fund his new colony. However the fur trade did not continue forever. In the mid 18 th century, fur was not as fashionable as it once was in Europe. Also overhunting devastated the population of fur bearing animals east of the Mississippi. Also the beginning of American trappers such as Daniel Boone, all but eliminated the need for Indian Labor. All of these resulted in the decline of the American fur trade and slowly the European dependence on the Indians was all but eliminated. However the Indians remained dependant on the Europeans for all of their new tools and technology. Indian Land as Economic Gain

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